The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Skhamkhani said the growing presence of the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) in Iraq is a threat to the entire region.

Skhamkhani said the expanding presence of the terrorist group in Iraq which is involved in violent actions is alarming to the whole region and needs serious actions by international organizations as well as governments, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported on June 11.

Shamkhani made the remarks in a meeting with the Syrian Ambassador to Tehran Adnan Mahmoud.

ISIS, which is an active militant group in Iraq and Syria was established in the early years of the Iraq War and aims to establish a caliphate in the Sunni majority regions of Iraq, later expanding this to include Syria.

Commenting on the ongoing conflicts in Syria, Shamkhani said that Syria taught the hegemonic powers which support terrorists a big lesson and showed them the power of the resistance movement in the region.

He also said that spread of terrorism was a result of the illogical policies followed by its supporters.

The senior Iranian official further congratulated president Bashar al-Assad on his re-election, calling the Syrian election free and popular.

The presidential election in Syria put an end to the excuses of crisis-seeking forces, healed the wounds of people and defeated terrorist groups and their supporters, Shamkhani said.

He reiterated Iran's support for "the vote and will of the Syrian nation."

Iran is a close ally of the Syrian government and has always shown its support for the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Al-Assad won the recent presidential elections held on June 3 with 88.7 percent of votes. The European Union and the U.S. condemned the election, calling it undemocratic.